Nothing compares to these meerkats: Hilarious pictures show the mischievous mammals taking up extreme sports

Meerkats are the
animal du jour - and no wonder, as from these shots it looks like as
well as being a dab hand at promoting price comparison websites, they
are into some fur-raising extreme sports.

These
images are from the Maverick Meerkats calendar 2013, and show the
fun-loving creatures getting up to all sorts of mischief in all seasons.

In January, one madcap mongoose takes up snowboarding as two of his gang look on, amazed.

And by February, he's hurtling through the air performing a bungee jump.

Extreme efforts: One madcap mongoose takes up snowboarding as New Year resolution while two of his gang look on, amazed

Flying squirrel? By February, this brave Maverick is hurtling through the air performing a bungee jump

Abseiling adventure: March sees this mongoose kitted out with crampons scaling a sheer rockface

But the ballsy furballs haven't lost their head for heights after all that exertion - March sees one meerkat kitted out with crampons to scale a sheer rockface, before strapping into a harness to give gliding a go in April.